Stanchions are primarily used as protective barriers for guarding stationary structures against damage that would result from being struck by a vehicle. They are commonly found in industrial facilities, parking garages and lots, and around drive thru lanes at restaurants. Generally, stanchions consist of an outer sleeve of elongated tubular steel and a concrete core. In construction, one end and a portion of the elongated tubular steel body is supported perpendicularly in a fixed surface while the opposite end extends above the fixed surface at a distance approximately equal to the embedded portion. The interior cavity of the elongated tubular steel member is commonly filled with concrete as a reinforcing complement. While stanchions can adequately protect stationary structures against damage from vehicle accidents, it is not uncommon for people to receive minor injuries, or their vehicles to receive minor damage, when contact is made with a stanchion.
Protective covers, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,583, aid in reducing injury to people, and damage to cars, that make contact with unprotected stanchions. The smooth surface of protective covers minimizes the scratching or cutting that occurs when a grazing contact is made with an unprotected stanchion that typically has a rough surface. Additionally, by covering a stanchion with a resilient protective cover, repetitive maintenance that stems from long-term exposure is minimized and its esthetic appearance is enhanced.
For various applications, protective covers are made in several different sizes and colors. Such covers may also be customized to display a customer logo or advertisement. The lightweight structure and design of such covers allows for quick and easy installation. Once fitted to a stanchion, the protective cover enhances its esthetic features while providing a durable and smooth surface that reduces repetitive maintenance and injury that may occur from minor accidents. Colored covers have good visibility, but in dimly light to dark conditions the cover's visibility is substantially decreased.
Lighting bollards, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,484, are low-level ground mounted lighting structures primarily in use in urban environments for lighting pedestrian walkways and building entrances at night. Lighting bollards typically feature a base, a steel housing fashioned with one or more windows, and a source of illumination. The source of illumination, and its supporting electrical components, are generally mounted within the interior of the housing and receives its power from an external source. Other types of low-level outdoor lighting elements are used in residential landscaping applications to provide illumination around patios, walkways, or plant beds. These lighting elements commonly feature electrical conductors and a lamp receptacle disposed within an esthetic plastic housing. To provide power to these elements, they are generally connected to a track lighting type of network below the earth's surface.
While both these lighting structures are intended to provide illumination, neither is intended for use as a protective cover for a stanchion while providing light. A protective cover is useful for reducing repetitive maintenance and enhancing the esthetic character of stanchions, but a lighted protective cover would provide the additional feature of high visibility in a dark environment. Lighting bollards can provide the necessary light to maintain high visibility in poorly illuminated areas but they cannot provide the protective function of a stanchion.